Role of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in the development of recurrent depressive disorder

- MMPs play an important role in the etiology and the course of depression.

BackgroundMMPs play a role in modulating inflammation and their impact in many inflammatory diseases has been investigated. The aim of the study was to demonstrate the relationship between selected polymorphisms for MMP-2 (C-735T), MMP-7 (A-181G), MMP-9 (T-1702A, C1562T) and TIMP-2 (G-418C) and depression, as well as between the importance of distribution of genotypes and alleles for the examined polymorphisms and the risk of depression occurrence.MethodsThe examined population comprised 203 individuals suffering from depression and 99 individuals who formed a control group. Designations were carried out for MMP-2 (C-735T), MMP-7 (A-181G), MMP-9 (T-1702A, C1562T) and TIMP-2 (G-418C). The distribution of haplotypes of the MMP-9T-1702A and MMP-9 C1562T was specified for MMP-9 (T-1702A, C1562T).ResultsIn rDD group and in the control group the presence of the T-1702A polymorphism for MMP-9 increases the risk of rDD development for the T/T genotype and T allele (OR=2.191). The A/A genotype (OR=0.120) and A allele (OR=0.442) reduce the risk of disease occurrence in the examined polymorphisms for MMP-2, MMP-7 and MMP-9. The C/C genotype and C allele of the C1562T MMP-9 polymorphism increase the risk of middle-age depression, while the T allele makes this risk smaller. The incidence of rDD was greater for the C/T C-735T/MMP-2/genotype and G/G A-181G /MMP-7/genotype. A similarly high risk of incidence was confirmed for the C/T - T/T genotypes of the MMP-2C-735T and MMP-9T-1702A polymorphisms. A higher risk of incidence (OR=9.376) was confirmed in the case of a set of T/T-G/C genotypes of the MMP-9T-1702A and TIMP-2G-418C polymorphisms. For the gene-gene interactions presented above, a statistically significant difference was found between the examined group and the control group.LimitationsA small group of examined patients and the need for conducting the study in other populations in order to determine the impact of the stratification factor.Conclusions1. The evaluated polymorphisms in MMP genes have significant importance for the development of depression; they also have an impact on depression onset. 2. Further studies focused on changes of MMPs in the development of rDD are required.